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300 comments in total

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59 out of 71 people found the following comment useful :-
A Great Action Film That Is Actually a Great Film, 25 July 2000
Author: tfrizzell from United States

"Speed" was a runaway success in 1994. It was a block-buster in every sense of the word and critically speaking, it is an excellent motion picture. The film deals with an LAPD swat officer (Keanu Reeves) who is playing a deadly game of cat-and-mouse with crazed ex-cop Dennis Hopper. After Reeves stops Hopper from blowing up a high-rise building, the next obstacle is a city bus. Hopper has rigged the bus to explode if the "speed" ever drops below 50 miles per hour. Sandra Bullock, in her star-making role, plays an unlucky passenger who becomes the center of attention when she is forced to be the driver when the original navigator is accidently shot. The great thing about "Speed" is the fact that it never tries to be more than it is. It goes for non-stop action, thrills, chills, and spills. However, Dennis Hopper's character is somewhat complex and his performance probably should have garnered him an Oscar nomination. A great film in spite of the fact it is from the action genre. 5 stars out of 5.

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45 out of 52 people found the following comment useful :-
One of the best action films ever!, 31 October 2001

Author: SmileysWorld from United States

If ever there was a film I wished I had seen at the theater,this would be the one.It's a great combination of a well written story, great direction,and a great cast.It's one of those films that you want to like so much,and it does not disappoint.The only thing that bothered me about the film is perhaps is the insertion of ill timed corny remarks ("He lost his head"),and the ending could have been done better,but overall a great action film worth owning.

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40 out of 43 people found the following comment useful :-
"Speed"-y delivery..., 30 April 2000

Author: George Litman from Marietta, OH USA

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

Pop quiz, hot-shot - what's the most exciting action movie you've ever seen with a bus in it?

Right, the answer is "Speed" and if you've seen it then you'll have to agree that there is more action in this one movie than any ten generic action flicks that have been released in the last ten years.

A trend-setter the likes of "Die Hard", "Raiders of the Lost Ark" and "Lethal Weapon", "Speed"'s premise is simple - a bus is wired by a madman (Dennis Hopper) to blow up if it drops below 50 MPH. This is to give the cop (Keanu Reeves) who ruined his last effort a run for his money in trying to save the day. In the ensuing efforts, a woman (Sandra Bullock) is recruited to drive the bus and keep it over 50 MPH at all times.

And for as deceivingly simple as it is, "Speed" pulls out all the stops by making every scene a nail-biter (the bomb discovery, Keanu getting aboard the bus, Sandra driving over an incomplete gap in a highway, etc. - the list is endless) and all the main characters (and a few of the supporting ones) are about as smart as your average movie-goer and have enough of these kinds of movies to figure out what the other guy's move will be and act on it. I LOOOOVE movies like that.

Keanu is far more heroic in this movie than he has been before (and since); Jeff Daniels is born to play best pal and does so with good-nature; Sandra is a delight to watch as well as hear - she has a voice you literally can wrap yourself up in; Hopper adds to his nutso roles with some droll lines that sound all the spicier delivered Hopper-style. Everyone is great and gives their all.

The movie is all one long action set-piece, which is what the action fan expects when they plunk down their money then sit down with their popcorn. They get their money's worth here and then some. "Speed" was obviously written by someone who loves action films as much as the action film fans that watch them. Good match-up.

Nine stars for "Speed", and let's hear it for the magic of surveillance cameras.

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42 out of 48 people found the following comment useful :-
a pure adrenaline rush, 9 January 2002
Author: Real Critic

Take Keanu Reeves as a cop willing to shoot hostages, Dennis Hopper as a crazed bomber, and the beautiful Sandra Bullock as a reckless, "substitute" bus driver, combine them, and what do you get? You get one of the smartest, most high-energy action films ever made. Be prepared to hold on for dear life after you watch this one. It will blow you away with plenty of violence, breathtaking explosions, and cliffhanger action sequences. A thrill ride! 4/4

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30 out of 36 people found the following comment useful :-
Guaranteed to give you a rush...the ultimate film for action fans..., 18 May 2001
Author: Neil Doyle from U.S.A.

'Speed' has to be the ultimate action film, involving you in an intense experience from the opening credits until the smash-bang climax. Not only do Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock do top work, but Dennis Hopper makes the most compelling villain of the '90s.

It all starts with a revenge-driven extortionist letting authorities know he has planted a bomb on a bus. The catch is it will explode if the bus is driven at less than fifty miles an hour. The script races along with non-stop action and surprise twists, without ever giving the audience time to stop for breath. It's a little too intense for its own good and could have used some lighter moments to give us a break!

Taut and suspenseful, with excellent effects and gripping suspense that keeps you riveted. Some of the stunts seem too incredible to be believable but in a film of this kind you have to go with the flow. The stunt work itself is breathtaking and makes it easy to see why the film is one of the most highly rated action films of the '90s.

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27 out of 31 people found the following comment useful :-
Thoroughly entertaining, 1 March 2005

Author: jeremyglick from Texas

Speed is one of my favorite action movies of all time, just a notch below contemporaries like Terminator 2 and Die Hard. The premise is so simple that it's almost a parody of movie pitches (Homer Simpson's line was "I saw this movie about a bus that had to SPEED around a city, keeping its SPEED over fifty, and if its SPEED dropped, it would explode! I think it was called 'The Bus That Couldn't Slow Down'."). Fortunately this film came to be much better than the sum of its parts, and it's deservedly remembered as one of the most entertaining films of the 90s.

What distinguishes Speed is its humanity, due in no small part to the character of Annie (Sandra Bullock). The best example of this is the moment when Annie, while driving the bus, thinks she has struck a baby stroller. She becomes so distraught that she lets go of the steering wheel, never mind the fact that she is in charge of driving a bomb-laden bus through the L.A. suburbs. It's one of several moments that draw us into the film by helping us identify with the characters, and it's all the more elegant for its simplicity. This movie isn't complex, but it doesn't claim to be.

There is a certain irony that Speed succeeds so well on a human level, since Jan de Bont is not generally considered an "actor's director". He started as a cinematographer, and even when he talks about directing he discusses technical aspects and seldom mentions working with actors. Nowhere was this more evident than Speed 2, which pretty much killed his directorial career. Given that, it's all the more remarkable what he pulled off in the original Speed, as everything seemed to come together for him.

The overall performances really serve this picture well. Keanu is at his best (which is to say, mediocre), Sandra launched a career based on this movie, and Dennis Hopper did a wonderful job as the sardonic villain. Plus he has one of my favorite bad-guy lines of all time (Traven: "You're crazy." Payne: "Poor people are crazy, Jack. I'm eccentric.").

8/10

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37 out of 53 people found the following comment useful :-
Keanu Reeves forever changed the movie hero, 29 August 2000

Author: snickerssjo

Speed was a revelation to me . All of a sudden I was on the edge of my seat pulling for the hero. Up until that time I always knew the guy with muscles was going to win no matter what. But Keanu made me want him to win , he got me involved with the story. He did the same in Matrix. The hero is once again exciting.

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24 out of 30 people found the following comment useful :-
Enough action for three movies, 16 January 2002

Author: smatysia (feldene@comcast.net) from Houston

Enough action sequences for three movies. Sandra Bullock has the cuteness controls set on HIGH, and Keanu Reeves plays it straight, a lot like his part in "Point Break". Dennis Hopper is, of course, one of the most believably creepy movie villains in the business today. (See him in "Blue Velvet") OK, there were some physical impossibilities in the film, but c'mon, most action films have them. (I've driven buses before, and they will not do many of the things in this movie.) This movie kept my eyes glued to the screen throughout. Grade: B+

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15 out of 16 people found the following comment useful :-
Fast paced (see what I did there?)., 27 January 2004

Author: eamon-hennedy (eamon.hennedy@talk21.com) from Co Down, Northern Ireland

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

Sheer adrenalin from beginning to end, Speed is one hell of an action film, but it is one that is both simple, yet deviously complex. First of all, the plot is well done. It really is. It sound good on paper and writer Graham Yost (with a little help from Joss Whedon) takes full advantage of what might happen when stuck on a bus that has to stay above fifty miles per hour in order to stop from blowing up due to a mad bomber. Every obstacle that Keanu and Sandra could possibly face arises; children crossing the road, a woman with a baby carriage, a traffic jam, a hard right turn and of course, a big huge gap on the road. Logic is not only stretched, but it is thrown out of a very high window, but when a film is this much fun why complain.

The script is very well set up, not only in terms of plot but in terms of structure. Each act has it's own set piece. Act one features the elevator sequence. Act two, the biggest act of the film takes place on the bus while the third and final act takes place on the train (a controversial contribution from Whedon and one that Yost was very unhappy with). Of course none of this would work without a great director at the helm and Jan de Bont rises to the challenge. While his career after this has been hit and miss (critics have slated his work but audiences have been forthcoming), here he shows that he has learned from being a director of photography for Paul Verhoeven and John McTiernan with a visual prowess and a handling of action sequences that is superb. In fact a lot of the film recalls Die Hard with the suspense arising from a plot that is quite simple yet deviously more complex in its execution. The biggest surprise at the time was that Keanu Reeves does wonderfully well in the role of the hero, Jack Tavern. He is charming, yet tough and while he doesn't really have to 'act' here, his performance is well done and he should be proud. Likewise Sandra Bullock in what is really her breakthrough role, even though it is her second major film after having been the female lead in Demolition Man. Her performance has all the hallmarks of her lovely girl next door act and her chemistry with Reeves works well. It is especially funny when he keeps calling her 'mam'.

However the film is stolen from everyone's favorite psychopath Dennis Hopper. Brilliantly evil as Howard Payne, Hopper clearly enjoys playing a bad guy who enjoy being a terrorist ("the whim of a mad man, I like it"). While the role is not of the disturbing variety that Frank Booth is (this is a mainstream film after all), the role is great one and is instantly memorable, as is his death scene.

If you have still to watch this film do. It is brilliant and is one of the best Hollywood action films of the nineties. Just don't watch the abysmal sequel.

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13 out of 13 people found the following comment useful :-
Best Action Film of the 90s, 28 June 2004

Author: da_pierce from Vegas, Nevada USA

I'm a big fan of thrilling action and special effects movies and Speed had it all throughout. It never slowed down. I never got tired of the action, from the opening elevator scene to the final scene of the subway crash. This film will keep you guessing and on the edge of your seat. Dennis Hopper was really convincing as the mad bomber. Even though he was the bad guy his character was a likable bad guy. Speed has one of the all time best special effects ever seen in a movie, the subway crash near the end of the film. Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock characters ride the runaway subway train to the end of the line where it crashes through a construction area and onto Hollywood Blvd near the Chinese theatre. They survive the crash to make Speed 2.

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